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      Leveraging ecological theory to guide natural product discovery.

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          Abstract

          Technological improvements have accelerated natural product (NP) discovery and engineering to the point that systematic genome mining for new molecules is on the horizon. NP biosynthetic potential is not equally distributed across organisms, environments, or microbial life histories, but instead is enriched in a number of prolific clades. Also, NPs are not equally abundant in nature; some are quite common and others markedly rare. Armed with this knowledge, random 'fishing expeditions' for new NPs are increasingly harder to justify. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary pressures that drive the non-uniform distribution of NP biosynthesis provides a rational framework for the targeted isolation of strains enriched in new NP potential. Additionally, ecological theory leads to testable hypotheses regarding the roles of NPs in shaping ecosystems. Here we review several recent strain prioritization practices and discuss the ecological and evolutionary underpinnings for each. Finally, we offer perspectives on leveraging microbial ecology and evolutionary biology for future NP discovery.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol.
          Journal of industrial microbiology & biotechnology
          Springer Nature
          1476-5535
          1367-5435
          Mar 2016
          : 43
          : 2-3
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA. smanski@umn.edu.
          [2 ] BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA. smanski@umn.edu.
          [3 ] Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA. schl0453@umn.edu.
          [4 ] BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA. kinkel@umn.edu.
          [5 ] Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA. kinkel@umn.edu.
          Article
          10.1007/s10295-015-1683-9
          10.1007/s10295-015-1683-9
          26434742
          ed82691d-f6c8-4ba8-90eb-359e1d09e768
          History

          Arms race,Biogeography,Coevolution,Competition,Endosymbiont
          Arms race, Biogeography, Coevolution, Competition, Endosymbiont

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